Taj Haider

Taj Haider
SI
Senate of Pakistan from Sindh
In office
5 July 1995 – 8 August 2000
Preceded byKamaluddin Azfar
Succeeded byFarhatullah Babar
Personal details
Born
Taj Haider

(1942-03-08)8 March 1942
Kotah, Kotah State, Rajputana Agency, India
(now Rajasthan, India)
Died8 April 2025(2025-04-08) (aged 83)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
CitizenshipPakistani citizenship (1942-2025)
NationalityPakistani
Political partyPPP (1967–2025)
Alma materKarachi University
OccupationPolitician, writer, playwright, mathematician
ProfessionProfessor of mathematics
CommitteesMember of Senate standing committee on Industries, Production, Energy, Education, Scientific and Technological Research
AwardsSitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2013
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsUniversity of Karachi
DJ Science College
Pakistan Academy of Letters
Pakistan Mathematical Society
Pakistan Television Corporation
Known forWork in political Literature of Pakistan, mathematics, and Pakistan and its Nuclear Deterrent Program
Notable awardsPTV Awards (2006)
Sitara-e-Imtiaz (2013)

Taj Haider, SI (Urdu: تاج حيدر; 9 March 1942 – 8 April 2025)[1] was a left-wing politician, nationalist,[2] playwright, mathematician, versatile scholar, and Marxist intellectual. He was one of the founding members of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was the general-secretary of the PPP from 2023 to 2025 after the office was vacated by Nayyar Hussain Bukhari.[3]

A mathematician and scientist by profession, Haider provided vital leadership in the formative years of clandestine atomic bomb projects in the 1970s. He was also noted for his writing of political plays for the Pakistan Television (PTV) from 1979 to 1985.[3]

Biography

[edit]

Education

[edit]

Taj Haider was born on 8 March 1942 in Kotah, Rajasthan, British India. His family migrated to the Dominion of Pakistan following the partition of India in 1947.[3] After graduating from a local high school, Haider ultimately enrolled in Karachi University in 1959.[4] He studied mathematics at the Karachi University and graduated with a BSc (hons) in Mathematics in 1962.[3]

In 1965, he earned his MSc in mathematics from the same institution and opted to teach mathematics at the local college, later moving to Karachi University. During his career at the Karachi University, Haider primarily taught and focused on the ordinary differential equations and topics in multivariable calculus.[4]

PPP and political activism

[edit]

During the attendance of 1967 socialist convention, Haider was one of the founding members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and committed himself as a vehement supporter of change by left-oriented philosophy of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.[3] In the 1970s, he played a vital role in formulating the public policy concerning the atomic bomb projects.[5]

On multiple occasions, he provided his expertise on taking moral stance on nuclear weapons initiatives at the diplomatic conventions.[6] On nuclear weapons development, Haider stated that "there was a need to aggressively project the peaceful intent of Pakistan's atomic bomb program."[7]

Haider disassociated himself from the politics but remained member of Pakistan Mathematical Society and shifted towards writing political dramas at the Pakistan Television (PTV) in 1979.[3] The PTV aired various political dramas written by Haider until 1985 when he renewed his association with PPP.[3] In 1990–2000, he contributed to PPP-initiated industrial projects such as the establishment of Heavy Mechanical Complex (HMC), Hub Dam and various other social programmes. He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 1995.[5][4]

In 2001, Haider returned to his literary activities after rejoining the PTV, and penned two political drama serials for the PTV which were aired in 2003.[4] In 2004, he returned to politics in opposition to President Pervez Musharraf over the issue of nuclear proliferation. He bitterly criticised the United States over the sanctions of KRL and was one of the noted politicians expressing the discontent with the US, along with Raza Rabbani in 2004.[8] About the nuclear proliferation case, Haider defended the case of Abdul Qadeer Khan in the public and condemned the Information minister, Rashid Ahmad's statement of acquitting former Prime minister Benazir Bhutto in the nuclear proliferation case.[8]

Ultimately, he called for a parliamentary inquiry on that issue, and questioned the involvement of President General Pervez Musharraf in the proliferation case.[8] In 2006, Haider was awarded PTV Awards for Best Playwright Serial award, which he received in a televised ceremony.[9]

Writing and philosophy

[edit]

Haider extensively wrote on nuclear policy issues, left-wing ideas, literary and political philosophy. His more recent writings had included the support of social democracy in the country and power of balance in each state institution.[10] In literary and political circles, he wrote critic articles against the military dictatorship, specifically policies enforced by the conservative President General Zia-ul-Haq throughout the 1980s.[11]

Taj Haider opposed the ethnically based politics of the leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement or MQM, Altaf Hussain based in Karachi by reportedly stating on one occasion, "We were not Mohajirs but Urdu-speaking citizens of this province and this country. Our mother-tongue was the official and national language of Pakistan and it would be wrong and degrading to consider ourselves as lesser citizens or Mohajirs.

Death

[edit]

Taj Haider was admitted to Karachi’s Ziauddin Hospital’s intensive care unit battling cancer. He died on 8 April 2025, at the age of 83.[12][13]

Honors and awards

[edit]
Selected articles
  • Haider, Taj. "CTBT Security Perspectives" Dawn Newspapers, 27 March 2000.
  • Haider, Taj. "Setting the PPP record straight", Express Tribune 2013.
  • Haider, Taj. "Why the PPP is boycotting the presidential election", 16 July 2013
Television plays

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ali, Nadir Guramani | Imtiaz (8 April 2025). "Senior PPP leader Senator Taj Haider passes away after battling cancer". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Taj Haider cautions Altaf over use of term 'Mohajir'". Pakistan Observer (newspaper). 4 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Profile of Senator Taj Haider". Pakistan Herald. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Taj Haider profile". Daily Pakistan (newspaper). 1 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b Khan, Feroz Hassan (2012). "§15:The Dawn of a Nuclear Power". Eating Grass : The Making of the Pakistan Atom Bomb. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0804776011.
  6. ^ Khan, Feroz Hassan (2012). "§4:Never Again". Eating Grass : The Making of the Pakistan Atom Bomb. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0804776011.
  7. ^ "KARACHI: Leaders condemn US sanctions on Kahuta". Dawn (newspaper). 3 April 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "PPP blasts minister's statement". Dawn (newspaper). 25 February 2004. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Lifetime achievement award for Mehdi Hasan (Best playwright is Taj Haider)". Dawn (newspaper). 17 July 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  10. ^ Haider, Taj (19 January 2013). "Setting the PPP record straight". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  11. ^ Haider, Taj (26 August 2012). "Black out revisited". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  12. ^ "PPP Senator Taj Haider passes away after brief illness in Karachi". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  13. ^ "PPP Senator Taj Haider passes away in Karachi". Brecorder. 8 April 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  14. ^ "Abida Parveen, Aleem Dar among winners Posthumous awards for Manto, Mehdi Hassan". Dawn (newspaper). 14 August 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taj_Haider&oldid=1284699680"